Royal Icing
Buy royal icing for cookie decorating on feeriecake.com
What is royal icing?
Royal icing is a specific type of icing. What sets it apart from other frostings is that it hardens, making it an excellent frosting for decorated cookies and gingerbread house decorations.
It consists of egg whites, powdered sugar and sometimes flavouring or lemon juice, which are gently beaten to form stiff peaks.
The secret ingredient in royal icing is meringue powder. This egg white substitute helps the icing achieve its glossy consistency.
This fairly firm glaze is also used to cover cakes.
History of royal icing
How royal is this icing?
Bakers called it royal icing when it was first created, but it gained its "royal" status when it was used for the wedding cake of Queen Victoria's eldest daughter and images of the cake were published in the Illustrated London News. This is where the trend of wedding cakes covered with royal icing was born.
How to use royal icing to decorate a cake?
This is an excellent icing to use for decorating cakes covered with royal icing and cakes covered with sugar paste, ganache and other icing that are set to harden.
Be careful, royal icing is not suitable for buttercream as it will absorb the fat from the buttercream.
For intricate decorations with lots of detail, use the appropriate piping bag and pastry sleeves with narrow tips. Make delicate designs such as lace, cords, beads, lattice, eyelets, cross-stitch.
With larger tip sockets, you can make shell designs, more intricate 3D designs on the cake itself.
With a little practice you can make royal icing flowers. Create your petals on baking paper and with the help of a flower nail or dresser nail and move them on the cake once they are hard.
Can you add food coloring to royal icing?
Yes, you can add food coloring to royal icing. Prefer gel or paste coloring so as not to alter the consistency of your icing. Add the coloring gradually and don't hesitate to leave the icing on for the coloring to work.
You can then add more dyes until you get the right shade. If you add a large amount of color at once, you may end up with a darker shade than you want, so use colorants sparingly.
Can we add a flavouring to the royal icing?
The taste of royal icing is generally quite neutral even though it is made with lemon juice.
You can also add other flavors such as vanilla, fruit flavoring, or bitter almond, the possibilities are endless.
Is it safe to eat homemade royal icing?
Because of raw egg whites, some people are concerned about salmonella, especially if young children or elderly people consume the finished product.
If you are concerned about this, there is nothing better than using dehydrated egg whites in powder form instead of fresh egg whites.
Another option is to buy a royal icing mix, in which the powdered egg white is already added. And it's a good thing we have some in the store!
Royal icing preparations
Our royal icing mixes are simple to use. Just add water until you get the texture you want and it's ready to use. You can then add food coloring or even food flavoring.
Renshaw also offers ready-to-use royal icing in a jar. Even easier!
